How to Complete and Submit the biBerk Workers’ Comp Audit Form

The biBerk workers comp audit is a year-end reconciliation you complete through the biBerk policyholder portal, logging in with your policy number and the phone number tied to your account.1biBerk. Workers’ Compensation Audit The audit compares the payroll estimate used to set your original premium against what you actually paid during the policy term, and the result is either an additional bill, a credit, or (rarely) no change. The work itself is not complicated, but a few sections of the form are where small businesses routinely overpay or get hit with surprise charges. Preparing the right records before you log in is the difference.

Getting Into the Portal

When your policy period ends, biBerk posts a pending audit task to your account. Open the policyholder portal and sign in with your policy number and the phone number on file.2biBerk. Manage Your Business Insurance Policies Online The workers’ compensation audit section walks you through payroll entry and document upload. If you run into a question the portal can’t resolve, biBerk’s licensed agents are reachable at 1-844-472-0967.

Don’t start the form until your records are assembled. Hunting for tax documents mid-entry slows you down and raises the odds of a mistake that triggers a follow-up from the auditor.

Records to Pull Together First

The form asks you to verify total compensation paid during the policy period, and the auditor cross-checks your numbers against outside documents. Pull these before you log in:

  • IRS Form 941 (quarterly) or Form 944 (annual), which confirms taxable wages and federal withholdings for each reporting period.3Internal Revenue Service. About Form 941, Employer’s Quarterly Federal Tax Return
  • State unemployment insurance reports, which give the auditor a second data point against your federal filings.
  • Payroll journals detailed enough to break earnings down by employee, pay period, and job classification, with base pay, overtime, bonuses, and commissions shown separately.
  • A current Certificate of Insurance from every subcontractor you hired during the policy term.
  • State-approved waiver forms for any owners, partners, or officers who opted out of coverage.

What Counts as Payroll

The form asks for gross wages, but not everything you paid an employee feeds the premium calculation. These are included:

  • Base wages and salary
  • Bonuses, including stock bonus plans
  • Commissions and draws against commissions
  • Holiday, vacation, and sick pay paid directly by the employer

These are excluded and should be reported separately or left out:4West Virginia Offices of the Insurance Commissioner. NCCI Payroll Definition

  • Tips and gratuities
  • Severance or dismissal pay, other than for time actually worked or accrued vacation
  • Sick pay from a third-party administrator
  • Reimbursements for documented business expenses

A few states handle some of these items differently. Nevada does not allow tips or severance to be excluded. Delaware and Pennsylvania include tips up to the federal minimum wage.5ICW Group. Workers’ Compensation Payroll Inclusions/Exclusions If you have tipped employees or paid severance during the term, check your state’s rule before entering numbers.

Separating Overtime

This is the single easiest place to overpay. Only the straight-time portion of overtime wages counts toward premium. The extra pay above the regular rate is excluded, and the math depends on how your payroll records are kept:6North Carolina Rate Bureau. Rule 2 – Premium and Payroll

  • If overtime pay is recorded separately, exclude the entire extra-pay portion. For an employee earning $20 regularly and $30 for overtime, the extra $10 per overtime hour comes out.
  • If time-and-a-half is recorded as a lump sum, exclude one-third of the combined overtime amount.
  • If double-time is recorded as a lump sum, exclude one-half of the combined overtime amount.

The exclusion only applies when your records break overtime out by employee and classification. If overtime is lumped together with regular pay with no way to separate it, the auditor has no basis to grant the credit and your full gross payroll stands. Check your payroll software before the audit to confirm overtime is tracked as its own line.

Subcontractors and Independent Contractors

If you hired subcontractors during the policy period, the auditor needs proof that each one carried their own workers’ compensation insurance. Provide a valid Certificate of Insurance for every subcontractor, with coverage dates that span the entire period they worked for you. A certificate that expired two months into a six-month job leaves four months exposed. When a subcontractor cannot produce proof of coverage, the auditor adds that subcontractor’s labor costs to your payroll and charges premium on them.7New York State Insurance Fund. Subcontractor Coverage A $40,000 subcontract folded in at a high-risk classification rate is the surprise charge that catches owners off guard.

Worker classification matters too. If the auditor concludes someone you treated as an independent contractor was functioning as an employee, their pay is added to your payroll. The IRS looks at behavioral control, financial control, and the nature of the relationship, with no single factor decisive.8Internal Revenue Service. Independent Contractor (Self-Employed) or Employee Document why each contractor qualifies as independent.

Assigning Wages to Classification Codes

Every employee’s wages go under a classification code on the audit form. These codes group jobs by the type of work and its injury risk, and the premium rate per $100 of payroll reflects that risk. The standard system runs to roughly 700 industry codes.9WCIRB California. Standard Classification System

Your declarations page lists the codes assigned to your business. Most small businesses have two or three: a governing classification for the main operation, plus separate codes for distinct roles like clerical office staff. Allocate each employee’s wages to the code that matches their actual duties. For someone splitting time between office work and field work, divide their payroll accordingly if your records support the split. Misclassifying a low-risk office worker under a high-risk construction code inflates your premium for no reason.

Executive Officer Payroll

If your business is a corporation, LLC, or partnership, the form asks about compensation paid to officers, members, or partners. Most states apply both a minimum and maximum payroll figure to these individuals regardless of what they actually earned. An officer who took no salary is still assigned the minimum; one who earned $500,000 is capped at the state maximum. For 2026, state maximums range from around $36,000 to over $370,000.10ICW Group. 2026 Officers and Partners Annual Payroll Limitations

Officers who formally opted out through a state-approved waiver are excluded entirely. Waiver rules vary by state and by entity type, and the auditor needs to see the signed form before removing an officer’s payroll from the calculation.

Submitting Through the Portal

Once your records are organized, the data entry is straightforward. For each classification code on your policy, enter total payroll for the policy period with overtime separated. Enter total payments made to subcontractors and attach their COIs. The portal accepts uploads of your Form 941s, state unemployment reports, and payroll summaries.

Before you submit, check every number against the source document. The portal requires an electronic signature certifying the information is accurate, and submitting false data exposes you to insurance fraud liability. biBerk states the audit is required by law at the end of the coverage period.1biBerk. Workers’ Compensation Audit

What the Adjustment Looks Like

After review, you receive an audit summary comparing your estimated premium to the final figure based on verified payroll. Three outcomes are possible:

  • If payroll was higher than estimated, you owe additional premium and the insurer invoices the difference.
  • If payroll was lower than estimated, the insurer issues a credit toward your next term or a refund.
  • If payroll matched the estimate, there is no adjustment. This is uncommon.

How large the adjustment is depends on how far off your original estimate was and which classification codes the extra payroll fell under. A business that projected $200,000 in payroll but ran $300,000 will see a meaningful additional bill, particularly if the overage sat under a high-risk code.

Disputing the Results

If a classification was applied incorrectly, overtime wasn’t credited, or a subcontractor’s COI was overlooked, you can challenge the findings. The standard escalation path:11NCCI. Dispute Resolution Process

  • Start with biBerk directly. Pay any undisputed portion you agree you owe, and submit a written explanation of what you’re contesting.
  • If you can’t reach agreement, request NCCI’s dispute resolution process. A consultant contacts both sides and tries to broker a resolution.
  • If mediation fails, the dispute goes before a state appeals board. Both sides present briefly, and you may bring legal counsel or your agent at your own expense.
  • The board’s written decision includes instructions for further appeal under state law.

Keep copies of every document and every piece of correspondence from the moment you first flag an issue. The process is built as an alternative to litigation, but you need a paper trail if it goes further.

If You Don’t Complete the Audit

Ignoring the audit is expensive. In approximately 33 states, carriers have authority under NCCI Item Filing B-1429 to impose an Audit Noncompliance Charge of up to two times your estimated annual premium.12Indiana Compensation Rating Bureau. B-1429 Establishment of Audit Noncompliance Charge That is on top of whatever premium you otherwise owe. On a $5,000 estimated premium, the noncompliance charge alone can reach $10,000.

Refusing to cooperate can also lead to cancellation of the policy. Operating without workers’ comp coverage leaves you directly liable for any workplace injury and, in most states, violates the law. Even if your records are imperfect, submit what you have and work with the auditor to fill gaps. That is always cheaper than the alternative.